The Endless Storm
by jumpcutfindo
Summary: A simple google search, to a quest that determines the world's fate. Will Michael let the world crumble into ruins, or will he carve the way for the Argo II's safety? R&R!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

This is my first fan fiction, I had the idea in my head for quite awhile and decided to type it out. I hope you enjoy reading it! If this gets good reviews I will continue. If not, well, I may continue anyway. Please don't be too harsh when reviewing, and I welcome criticism. I do not own Percy Jackson, but I do own the characters I made up :P

Please review after reading! Reviews really encourage me to do more, so if you want to see more, review more!

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><p>Chapter 1: The Beginning<p>

It all started on the day Michael had googled the gorgons.

The weather was the same as the past few days: rainy. The whole of the United States and parts of the Atlantic had been experiencing torrential rains for over a week. The unrelenting rain showered the library windows, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Michael and Joey, his best friend, were sitting at one of the computers in the library, arguing over their history project.

They were both had ADHD, which meant they could not stay still for more than two seconds. Michael knew that both of them paired up was not one of his smartest decisions, but still, he and Joey were the best of friends.

As usual, everyone in the class had decided to leave their project right until the day before it was due. Michael had been pestered by Joey to start the project, but he had squeezed his way out every single time. Michael knew that he had no choice since this was fifty percent of his grade, and with his current astoundingly horrible marks in history, he had to do a good job.

Michael and Joey sat in the quiet library, where the whole class was also doing their last minute assignments. Michael stared at the computer screen blankly.

"Ah damn, how are we gonna finish this by tonight?" he exclaimed, responded by a bunch of 'Shhh's from the other students around them.

"We haven't even thought of what we're going to do!" Joey told him. "We've been here watching you play Pacman for over an hour."

Michael had to resist the urge to do it again, but for the sake of his failing history marks, he pushed the thought aside.

"I've heard of some 'gorgons' before, I think they were Medusa and her sisters or something?" Michael suggested.

"Well, we could try that. But hurry up, I've got to reach home by seven."

"Why's your mom so strict?"

"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with my dad leaving me?" Joey responded, irritated. "Can we please start on the project?"

Oh man, I forgot, Michael thought as he clicked the browser icon.

Joey's dad had left her years ago, before she was born. Michael had been to her house many times and could see her mom's carefree face on the pictures, smiling and laughing. But now she looked different. There was always a sad look on her face now, and she was extremely strict. If Joey was out late or something, she would instantly ground her for a month. Michael's mom, although his dad had left him and his mother years ago, his mom never spoke of him. Whenever Michael brought the subject up, he was met with a hardened face refusing to tell him anything.

Michael stared at Joey as she tried to do some research on Greek mythology. Her long brown hair flowed down her back like water, and her face reflected a silent confidence and beauty. Her eyes were like coffee beans; warm and brown. To Michael, she was beautiful.

"Michael, you're dreaming again!" Joey whispered angrily.

"Huh, what?"

"Come on, we've got to finish this stupid project."

"Fine, fine…" Michael snapped out of his daze and went to google.

He typed "gorgons", and pressed enter.

Who knew a google search could cause such chaos in his life.

He, a fifteen year old boy, had experienced really weird stuff before. Once, he and Joey had been mobbed by a bunch of gangsters. Only they didn't look like gangsters, and he could swear one of them had horns on his head. He had dismissed this as a weird encounter, although many close shaves happened again not long after.

Michael was daydreaming again. He snapped back to usual and even before he could click the first link, the school librarian walked over. Michael saw her usual pointy nose and long neck as he turned around to face her. Suddenly he didn't feel so safe.

"Uh, Joey?" Michael started uncertainly.

"Yes?" she answered, her eyes glued to the screen.

"Why is the librarian walking over to us?" Michael asked.

"I don't know, why don't you ask yourself that?" She continued to click on more links and Michael heard her mouse taps.

"I haven't really done anything serious right?" Michael inquired. "Usually she just sits at her boring old seat and never gets up."

"Hey look, I found something about Daedalus and his nephew Icarus…" Joey said, having not heard what Michael had said.

The librarian unsheathed her hands. They were made of brass.

"Uh, Joey?" Michael said urgently.

"What?" she asked, finally turning around, her eyes looking at the librarian with an irritated look on her face.

Michael and her eyes widened, and they jumped aside as the librarian ran headfirst at them. She ran through the table, breaking it cleanly into half. Splinters flew everywhere as students started screaming in the library.

Michael and Joey got a face full of splinters. They scrambled to find a place to hide and were able to hide under tables as the librarian shook her head. Most of the students had evacuated, but some really daring ones had decided to stay behind to take pictures. Michael did not think pictures of an insane, brass-handed librarian was worth to lose a life over.

"Come out!" she called. Strangely enough, her voice was loud and clear although throngs of students were rushing out of the library in chaos. "Don't let auntie Euryale waiting!"

The look Joey gave Michael told him that name meant this was not good.

Euryale ran around the area, toppling computers and destroying tables. Splinters continued to fly everywhere and torn books fluttered toward the ground. Half the library gone in about ten seconds. A new record.

Michael decided to try and crawl out of his hiding place, which was a pile of books. Even before he could stand up, Euryale turned around swiftly and charged.

He jumped aside just in time; if he had stood there he would have been shish-kebab.

"Joey, RUN!" he yelled as Euryale got ready for another rush.

"No, stay behind! I only want to kill you!" Euryale shouted back happily.

Yeah, like that will happen, thought Michael as he ran through the remains of the library, pulling a shocked Joey behind him. Euryale got ready for another deadly rush, but right before she could make a move, Michael took a computer and hurled it at her. So much for the warranty.

"Joey, while we're running, can you tell me what the heck that thing is?" Michael asked, with the air of asking about the weather.

Joey was still in shock, but she responded nonetheless. "She's one of the ancient Greek gorgons. You know, Medusa's sister. But I think she's alone, her sisters don't seem to be with her."

Michael thought she was joking. They ran through the deserted hallways, desperately looking for an exit. The only way out seemed to be the main entrance of the school. Cold wind blew through the hallway, adding to the obstacle of avoiding puddles of water.

"Come off it, those Greek legends are just that. Legends," Michael answered, but he was a little uncertain. How could Greek legends even be present in real life? More unlikely, in the U.S?

"Well, the other reasoning is that she's an insane madwoman with metal for hands, and has somehow sneaked her way into the school and hid as the librarian for over half a year. Moreover, what are the chances she targets us and why?" Joey said as they slid out of the school entrance. They slowed down and heard Euryale shrieking behind them.

Giving each other nervous looks as they got drenched in rain, Michael asked, "So you think we should run?"

"Definitely."

They continued running for about ten blocks, arguing over Greek mythology. They stopped for a break, but when they looked behind, guess who they saw. No prizes for correct guesses.

Euryale was running toward them, approaching fast. They could not run away from her forever. Michael and Joey just stood there in the pouring rain, staring at Euryale rushing at them. Michael knew that this could be his final breath, but he had to act. For Joey, for himself, for his mom…

Michael quickly took a cable from a nearby trash can, and found it was quite strong, able to hold back a strong person well.

"Michael, what are you doing?" Joey asked as Michael tied one end of the cable to the lamppost and the other to a pipe on an apartment. He didn't respond to Joey's question.

"Quickly, come here and hide!" Michael grabbed Joey and pushed her into an alley, and whispered, "Get some kind of weapon."

Euryale slid the last few feet and landed right in front of the cable. The hat she was wearing slipped off and Michael saw a head full of snakes. Interesting, thought Michael.

"Why are you chasing us? Don't you have anything else better to do?" Michael asked.

"Not only you, other demigods too. Me and my sister, Stheno swore to attack every demigod in our range when that idiot boy Percy Jackson 'killed' my sister, Medusa. She still hasn't returned from Tartarus, but luckily we picked up the trail of the boy and we're trailing him now. I sensed you two demigods near us and I decided visit you," Euryale smiled evilly.

Michael momentarily forgot what the plan was. "Joey and me… demigods? You must be joking. You're probably not even real."

"Oh, am I? Want me to punch through you, then you make judgement?"

"Not today, hag-woman!" Joey shouted. Euryale turned around just in time to see a sledgehammer slamming down on her. She got knocked out cold and slid to the ground before she could utter another word.

"Where did you get that sledgehammer? I was expecting something like a trash bin," Michael asked, amazed.

"I just found it down the alley; I took it, boom, and one unconscious gorgon."

"Absolutely amazing. I'd applaud you if my hands weren't covered with splinters."

"Stop joking, this is serious," Joey said as she looked at the unconscious gorgon… only it wasn't there anymore. It had turned to dust.

"Weird… so what do you think is happening to us?" Michael asked Joey as he slowly lifted his gaze from the dissipating dust.

"I think I may be able to answer that," said a person from behind. Joey and Michael both turned around and saw a boy with jet-black hair, green eyes and an orange shirt that said "Camp Half Blood".

"Hi, I'm Percy Jackson. I saw how you took down that gorgon, it was awesome!" he said.


	2. Chapter 2: The Camp

Chapter 2: The Camp

Michael thought that Percy looked extremely familiar. He had seen him somewhere before…

Percy grinned at both of them. "Must have been a heck of a day," he said, looking at their dirty and drenched clothes.

Joey rolled her eyes and said, "You wouldn't believe half of it."

Michael was a little suspicious. Defeating a mythical Greek creature, then after that meeting up with a guy who looked like he should be in school? Definitely weird.

"Who are you?" Michael asked as he eyed Percy.

"I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon," he answered, still smiling as the rain continued to drench both of them. For some reason, Percy remain perfectly dry.

"When you say Poseidon, do you mean…" Joey started.

"Yeah, I'm the son of a Greek god. You guys don't know about Camp Half Blood yet, right? Come on, I'll brief you on the way to Blackjack, Guido and Porkpie."

"Who are they?" Michael asked, still trying to remember Percy's face.

"The camp's pegasi."

"Wow!" Joey exclaimed. Percy started explaining stuff about Greek gods all being real as they, about how they migrated to the United States walked past the quiet apartments, but Michael did not really listen. He was still confounded by the fact that monsters existed, and all those odd experiences he had had were actually real.

When Michael was eight, he remembered seeing some boy in a purple shirt in Detroit running toward a warehouse. He could still remember its name: Monocle Motors, and the weird eye design on the O's. He also remembered seeing the people chasing the boy; two giant men, and he could've sworn both of them had only one eye. His mother was with him at the time and saw nothing.

Michael had told his friends and his mother about these, but this only made them think he was a raving lunatic. The only person in his school who listened to him seemed to be Joey, and she had told him about her weird experiences before. She once had seen some arch on a hill when she was driving through Long Island Sound, but only caught a glimpse of it. She asked her mom to turn back but they were pressed for time, her mother being late for work.

Now that Percy had explained everything about the Mist and whatnot, it seemed that everything they had seen, normal mortals couldn't see it. Joey and Michael had once discussed about why they could see stuff others couldn't, and had come to the conclusion that it was all happening in their heads.

"Okay, that is surely an imagination," Michael muttered under his breath when he saw Blackjack. Pure-black, he didn't flinch when Joey patted his head.

Guido and Porkpie stood next to him, and Michael went to pat them. Their soft hair flowed under his hand smoothly.

"Yeah, so these are the camp pegasi. Blackjack is this one, Guido is that brown one and Porkpie is the one on the end. Joey, get onto Guido…"

"Wait, what? We're gonna ride these pegasi to your camp?" Joey asked, a mingled expression of shock and excitement on her face.

"Duh, what did you think? I brought these pegasi here for a reason you know."

"Um, aren't you supposed to be in school?" Michael pointed out.

Percy's smile got wider. "Yeah, but we had a gas 'accident' a few days ago. Long story short, school is cancelled for a week and I thought it'd be nice to go to camp for a few days."

They heard a distant roar.

Percy's smile turned to an expression of fear. "I think Euryale's reforming, hurry!"

Joey and Michael got onto Guido and Porkpie respectively. We could hear Euryale's fuming noises getting closer.

"Okay, giddy-up!" Percy yelled.

The pegasi spread their wings and took flight. As they ascended hundreds of feet into the air, Michael looked back. He could see Euryale gazing at them, raging around the area. Michael heaved a sigh of relief. They finally got rid of the crazy librarian-gorgon thing.

Michael hadn't taken a plane before, so there was no way he could've known that he had air-sickness.

"Michael, you don't look so well," Joey commented as they soared above the rain clouds, catching a small glimpse of the blazing sun. At least no rain fell on them up here.

"Nope, he doesn't. I think he has air-sickness. His face's all green," Percy yelled over the loud blast of wind. He didn't look too good either.

After about two minutes, he said, "We should be landing soon, Brooklyn isn't far from Long Island Sound."

"Wait, is the camp on some hill and has an arch?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I saw it before…" she went on to explain her story to Percy.

Michael was completely unprepared for landing. When Porkpie jerked downwards, he nearly flew off his back. Second close shave in one day, Michael thought. Another new record.

"Hold on!" Percy yelled. The three of them re-entered the dark clouds and passed through. As rain showered them once more, Michael was able to see the dark outline of buildings, and a… dragon guarding some tree? Was it another figment of his imagination?

After today, I think I'll believe anything, he told himself.

They landed smoothly on the ground, near the stables, and campers wearing raincoats came out to meet the new arrivals. One of them led the pegasi back to their stable, but not before Michael stroked Porkpie. Porkpie gave a snort that probably meant "no problem".

Percy smiled and introduced the newcomers to the other campers.

"Hey guys, meet Michael and Joey. They've just defeated Euryale, and I think they'll need some rest," he told them.

"Okay Percy, I'll bring them to the infirmary," a boy in the crowd called out. A tall boy with blue eyes stepped forward and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Will Solace, from Apollo Cabin. Follow me, I'll bring you to the infirmary."

"But we feel fine," Joey and Michael said in unison.

Will waved it away. "Nah, you're probably not. That's what they all say."

Will had struck gold, Michael was lying. He was horribly tired after all that running and battling Euryale, and he could bet Joey was feeling the same. Will led them and they didn't make any more protests. He pointed out the landmarks: the Armory, where all the weapons and armor was kept.

"They keep guns there too, not to mention rocket launchers and other stuff like that," Will explained as they walked past. He pointed at the Arena, and said, "That's usually where we duel, that's one of the camp activities…" He then continued to tell Joey and Michael about all the other activities the camp had, which included Archery and other stuff like that.

Michael realised the area wasn't wet at all. In fact, it was perfectly dry, although dark clouds hung overhead.

"Hey Will, why isn't it raining here?"

"Well, the camp has some sort of power that keeps the place from raining, but sometimes, when Zeus is in a bad mood it can hit the camp," he said. He looked nervously at the clouds. "To tell you the truth, the weather has been strange lately, I mean like, nobody has done anything to offend Zeus, yet almost the whole country is raining cats and dogs. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Well, anyway, there's the cabins, all decorated according to their gods, blah blah… you can go check them out later, but right now we have to get you to the Big House. That's where the infirmary is."

Will strode down the hill and pointed at a large house. "There's the Big House, it houses our camp director, Dionysius, known to us as Mr. D."

"You mean the god of wine?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, who else? Anyway, he's kind of strict, so don't get him into a bad mood. He may turn you into a raccoon or something."

Michael snickered, but realised that gods really did have that power. Joey and he continued to follow Will toward the Big House.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Will turned around and faced them. "How old are you guys?"

"Um… Joey and I turn fifteen this winter, why?" Michael questioned.

"Fifteen? Oh gods, you haven't been claimed yet right?"

"Nope, I guess not," Joey said. Michael remembered what Percy had said about claiming, and nothing like that had ever happened to them.

"Damn, don't let Percy know. It's not the first time this has happened."

"First time what has happened?" Michael asked.

"Well," Will said, "Percy made a deal with the gods that they have to claim their children when they hit thirteen. He made them swear on the River Styx, and if he finds out another god hasn't claimed his or her child, he's gonna be mad."

"You mean this has happened before?"

"Yeah, he flooded the entire cabin area. Water wouldn't recede for days."

"Oh. Well then, don't tell him about this."

Will laughed. "I'd be mad to do that. So yeah, welcome to Camp Half Blood. Hope you're in Apollo. Aaaand… we're here! The Big House!"

Michael looked forward and the giant house faced him. He was awestruck, it was beautifully built, and much more bigger than that small apartment he and his mom lived in. That reminded him… he needed to make a phone call to his mother.

"Hey Will… could you lend me a phone? I need to contact my mom."

He froze for awhile and turned, smiling mischievously.

"Come closer," Will told them. When they were close enough, Will took out an iPhone, coated with some sort of bronze plating.

"See this? It isn't your ordinary iPhone, its one with celestial bronze plating. I bet Percy has explained everything about how demigods can't use electronic devices, 'cause they send out signals and stuff?"

"Yeah," Joey said. "Isn't it dangerous to carry a phone around , then?"

"Ah, that's the beauty of it. It's covered with celestial bronze, which is a great monster repellant. The Stoll brothers from Hermes' cabin were experimenting with it. They had to take a big risk, celestial bronze is really hard to get. Anyway, they tried coating this phone with it and it didn't send out any monster signals! They had to get out of camp to test it, but no worries, nothing went wrong."

"So can I use it?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, sure," Will tossed the phone to Michael. Michael caught it perfectly in his hand.

"Ooh, nice catch."

"Thanks," Michael said as he tapped the numbers of his apartment's phone number.

His mom picked it up on the first ring.

"Hey, mom?"

His mom sounded hysterical. "Michael, where have you been? They say you've disappeared from school after something happened there? Those crazy schoolmates of yours keep saying 'The librarian destroyed the library.' Can you believe that?"

"Yeah, she really did."

His mother sighed. "Okay, anyone but you, I wouldn't believe it. Where are you? Do you know how worried I am?"

"Actually, I have no idea. Anyway…" Michael saw Will gesturing to him. It clearly meant he didn't want Michael's mom to know the truth about gods and Greek mythological stuff being real.

"Anyway what?" Michael's mom inquired.

"I'm going to have to come to a camp for school stuff every weekend, are you okay with that?" Michael asked. Will had told Joey and him that they would have to return at least every weekend.

"Well, I'm fine with that, but come home now! It's already eight o'clock and you still haven't done your homework!"

"Fine… fine… yeah, love you too, bye."

He hung up and saw Will and Joey snickering. He knew they had heard the entire conversation and felt his face turn red. He tossed the phone back with a word of thanks and Will caught it neatly in his hand.

Will brought them into the house, where they saw swords and iPads mixed on the coffee table. A leopard's head hung on the wall, and was actually _roaring_. Michael saw a PacMan arcade and had the mad urge to play a game on it.

"Okay, you guys just go lie on the bed and rest, I'll come and get you when it's time for dinner. You'll probably get claimed by then, or maybe during campfire night. I hope its tonight," Will laughed nervously and left. Joey and Michael both climbed into their beds and looked at each other.

"What do you think so far?" Joey asked, barely suppressing a smile.

"I think I'm going bonkers," Michael smiled back. He lay back and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3: The Activities

Chapter 3: The Activities

Letting Percy find out was NOT Michael's idea.

He had tried to keep his mouth shut, and luckily he and Joey had to go home before dinner started. His mother was nagging him about "safety" and "kidnapping", but that seemed a lot less dangerous than what he had went through the past few days.

On Saturday morning, he left the apartment for Camp Half Blood, planning to meet Joey at school before they left. He thought that his toothbrush and wallet would be enough, so he was quite empty handed when he met Joey.

Joey had done the same, but she had combed her hair and wore the Camp Half Blood orange tee.

"Ready?" Joey asked nervously as Michael approached her. Rain continued to pour all around them.

"Yeah, let's go," Michael replied. He was feeling excited and scared, not knowing what to expect at camp. Although Will had explained everything, he still had a sense of dread, and he had a feeling that things were going to get worse.

Joey stuck out her hand and a taxi appeared; no wait, materialised out of thin air in front of them. Inside sat Argus, the multi-eyed guard of Camp Half Blood. Percy said that in order to get them safely there he had asked Argus to pick them up. Michael was sure that Joey too did not want to get attacked by some random mythical Greek creature and die before he could experience the camp. He and Joey got in and Argus drove off, toward New York.

Michael took the newspaper in front of him and the front page said: **"****LIBRARIAN ****DESTROYS ****LIBRARY****"**. Really ironic.

He scanned the article and saw that no injuries had been reported, but the Stellar Middle School library had been completely demolished. The principal had made a statement that made Michael's heart leap: School was cancelled for the next week. He punched the air happily.

Joey saw his actions and looked at the newspaper.

"What are you so excited about?" she reached the part of no school. "Oh yeah, no school for a week? Now we don't need to hand up our stupid history project, the week after next has no history lesson."

Michael was happy; happy he could spend more time at camp, and with Joey.

They reached the camp boundaries, and to their surprise saw Percy waiting at the entrance. He was wearing a full suit of armour, and he didn't look happy. Will was sulking next to him. It didn't take a genius to tell what was going on.

As soon as Joey and I got out of the car, he yelled, "YOU GUYS HAVEN'T BEEN CLAIMED, HAVE YOU?"

We walked up the hill, Argus trudging along behind us. Percy was glaring at Will, who tried to ignore his gaze but looked guilty. Michael and Joey shifted uncomfortably.

"Well?" Percy asked angrily. "Yesterday before you left, you both had told me you'd already been claimed. Then I asked Will here, and he also said you'd been claimed but he didn't know what cabin you should've been in. What a joke."

Will smiled weakly at them but they were unable to return the smile, too afraid to talk because Percy could explode at any given moment.

Percy sighed. "Can't help it now, the number of unclaimed are growing rapidly. Olympus has been a bit quiet lately, the gods haven't been claiming kids as fast."

Will looked up and asked Percy, "So you're not unhappy or anything?"

Percy looked at the sky and said, "We can't help it, you know how the gods are. Unpredictable. But I'm still angry you lied to me. You'll have to do a forfeit tonight."

Will's face turned white. "No, not a forfeit. Anything but that."

"Okay, why don't you help clean out the stables?" Percy grinned evilly.

Will looked at his hands, they were absolutely clean. "On second thoughts," he started, "I think I'll do a forfeit."

"Great, man! Tonight, after dinner. On the Apollo table."

"Fine, fine…" said a defeated Will.

"Okay, I have Archery now, and Chiron won't let me drop it even though I fail miserably… but nevermind, I've gotta go, see ya later!" he waved at them as he ran toward the Archery area. Michael and Joey waved back while Will tried, but his hand slumped back to his side.

"A forfeit, damn it. A forfeit," Will muttered to himself.

"Will, what's a forfeit?" Joey asked.

"Well, uh… it's sort of an embarrassing thing… you'll see tonight… oh gods, I'm going to be a laughing stock!" he shook his head.

He tried to get himself together, but his face still had a look of defeat. "We need to get your schedules from Chiron. Come on, he'll be at the Big House."

They reached the Big House, and Chiron was on the front porch, sitting in a wheelchair.

"Ah, these must be the newcomers. Welcome to Camp Half Blood," he told Michael and Joey.

"Thanks," they said in unison.

Will was about to tell Chiron something when he raised his hand and said, "Percy's already told me about it."

Will looked slightly taken aback but he stepped back nonetheless. "Okay, I've got Sword Fighting now, I'll see you later." He ran off toward the Armoury.

"Dark times approach fast," Chiron said sadly as he looked at the bleak sky. It was almost completely overcast, except for a few spots of sunlight passing through slits in the clouds.

"No matter, here are your timetables. They tell you where, when and what you're supposed to do at any given point of time, except night time, where it is customary to sleep. Lights out at eleven, mind you. Now, any questions?"

Michael and Joey looked at their timetables. His first lesson was Archery and hers was the same. Apparently Chiron had given them the exact same timetables. Michael silently cheered.

"Only one, sir."

"Go ahead, Michael."

"Are you really disabled or what?"

Chiron smiled at them. "No, I am not. I would show you, but it is extremely annoying and tiring to get out of these fake legs. I'm sorry."

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

"Hurry along, you don't want to be late."

Joey and Michael left at a run, toward the Archery area. Michael looked through his timetable and saw that he had Sword Fighting, and he had a "Free Choice", which said he could choose what he wanted. He thought that sword forging would be kind of fun, but Joey told him she was choosing wall climbing. Michael decided to take the same as her.

They reached the Archery area and saw many kids and teens shooting arrows. Percy was one of them, but his aim was terribly off. He shot one that even Michael thought he would be able to shoot better.

Percy saw them and smiled. "Well, you should be able to tell I'm not the archery type. I'm more of melee, but whatever, practice makes perfect. I'm hitting the other campers less than before though, that's a start!"

Joey and Michael took a step back.

A small boy with brown hair walked over. "Hello! You guys are the newcomers right?"

"Yeah, we are," Michael said.

"Okay, Chiron asked me to help you today, my name is Jerry, by the way. I'm from Apollo cabin. Anyway, you both have used a bow before?"

They both shook their heads.

"It's okay, more than half of the newcomers never tried before. Anyway, why don't you pick up those two there…" he pointed at the bows on the table. "Take a quiver and come back here."

They got their equipment and although it was cold out, the bow felt warm in Michael's hand.

Jerry taught them how to load the bow and shoot, and Michael completed it faster than Joey. She took a bit more time but got it in the end.

"Okay, it's time to shoot. Just pull back, aim, and fire. Don't aim too long, your hand may slip," he told us. "Joey, why don't you go first?"

"Sure," she said. She pulled the string and the arrow, aimed, and shot. It hit the target, but it was not a bullseye.

"Nice shot, most people don't hit the target on their first try. Okay Michael, you next."

Michael pulled the string, clutching it tightly. He realised he needed a lot of effort to hold the string and arrow in place to aim. He aimed and shot in a split-second, and heard Jerry's squeal of excitement.

"A bullseye! Perfect shot, mate! Okay, try that again!"

He shot another. It hit near the bullseye, missing it by about an inch.

"Ooh, you're good! You in Apollo cabin?" Jerry inquired.

"I don't know yet," Michael answered.

"Oh, I forgot you guys are still unclaimed. But you're probably in Apollo, with an aim like this. Most of the people who shoot good are from Apollo, there was this one kid…"

Joey snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. "Oops, sorry!" he said. "Sometimes I ramble a lot, and I can't stop, like this one time…" He continued to ramble on.

It took Joey a few more snaps before Jerry came back to reality.

"Okay Joey, now it's your turn to shoot."

Archery lasted for about an hour, and at the end Michael had shot about twenty more bullseyes, attracting a small crowd around him. Joey had achieved about ten, which Michael thought was already quite good. They left, Joey complaining about how her aim was worse than Michael's.

"You know what, Michael? Jerry may be right, you might as well be in Apollo with an aim like this," Joey told him.

"I don't think I am, I'm not really athletic, am I?"

"Yeah, I guess not," she replied.

It was true, Joey was always more athletic than he was. She was the fastest runner in school, nobody could beat her.

Sword fighting was a complete disaster.

Michael and Joey had Percy's girlfriend, Annabeth, coaching them, and Michael lost to Joey almost all the time. The only time he won was when Joey tripped over his sneaker by accident.

Annabeth was laughing at the end of the session, the cold wind blowing a blonde hair. She looked at them with her grey eyes and grinned. "Ah well," she said. "Practice makes perfect. You'll have another session tomorrow, don't worry Michael."

"Yeah Michael, don't worry about it," Joey comforted him.

"Whatever, I guess I was destined to suck at it anyway."

They made their way to the climbing wall. There they met a satyr named Gleeson Hedge.

"You can call me Gleeson, though. You two kiddos, here's what you've got to do. Climb the wall, but beware of lava."

Michael and Joey were stunned. "Lava?" Michael asked. "Isn't that like, dangerous?"

"Nope, this lava only burns your clothes, but it doesn't hurt you. Oh, I forgot, there's also going to be boulders and if you don't reach the top in time you may get squashed."

This was not what Michael had expected.

He looked at Joey. "You sure you want to do this?"

Joey had a twinkle in her eyes. "Definitely."

"Okay cupcakes," Gleeson said. "Rules: there aren't any. Let's see if you can beat the fastest demigod record, set by Annabeth Chase. Thirty four seconds flat."

"What's the satyr record?" Joey asked.

"Ten point three two seconds."

"Oh gods, that's impossible to beat."

Gleeson rolled his eyes, and his hooves shook slightly. "It's impossible for demigods, obviously. Let's see if you can beat Annabeth."

They walked in front of the tall Climbing Wall with the other campers. It was really intimidating, it looked like a normal climbing wall, but it was not.

"Okay ready? Set… go!"

Joey shot up and reached halfway within fifteen seconds.

Gleeson whistled. "That is fast. Oh, if you don't reach the top within forty five seconds, lava and boulders will fall."

Michael continued to climb as fast as he could, but it was impossible. He was not sporty at all and had no stamina.

Joey reached the top first. Gleeson looked at his watched, surprised.

"That's a new record!" he yelled.

Joey was cheering Michael up, and other campers cheered them. When the timer hit forty-five seconds, lava started pouring, and boulders fell from above.

"Crap, crap!" Michael shouted as he avoided boulder by boulder. Lava continued to pour down and he had to take a dangerous route up. The gap between the walls was getting smaller, and other campers had already been doused by the lava. A few campers had already fallen onto the soft surface below, defeated, but Michael struggled on. Eventually he arrived at the top, with angry burns and stings all over his body. His shirt and jeans had holes in it too.

They climbed the ladder back down, and Gleeson congratulated Joey on her achievement.

"Twenty nine point six four seconds, not bad. That's how fast our slowest satyr moves. Annabeth will be thrilled to find out her six year old record got beaten by a newcomer."


	4. Chapter 4: The Disappearance

Chapter 4: The Disappearance

It was obvious by the end of the week what cabins Michael and Joey would be in. They had not even been claimed yet, but the week was enough for the campers to guess, and Michael was sure they were accurate.

Michael was not known as the new guy any more, he was known as "The boy who got 'em all". Almost every single one of the arrows he notched and shot had hit the bullseye, and every time archery was done his small fan club of Aphrodite and other campers would groan and leave sadly. Michael was not enjoying the attention, in fact he _hated _it. He couldn't concentrate when people were 'ooh'-ing and 'aah'-ing whenever he shot.

It was true though, by the time his lesson was halfway through they had to replace the target because the bullseye mark was too full with arrows for anymore to be fitted in there. Jerry had exclaimed within his second lesson that he was for sure an Apollo kid. Michael did not deny this, he also thought that he was an Apollo.

Joey had also fared extremely well within the first week. By Friday evening she had broken eleven records, one which was set by an Olympic sprinter who was also a demigod. Annabeth was not pleased that all the speed records she'd set; literally, ALL; had been beaten by a new kid within a week. Campers were starting to whisper that she had cheated, but many of them had seen her legitimately climbing the rock wall within twenty five seconds, a record no demigod had ever set before. All the campers knew she would go to Hermes cabin immediately. The Olympic champion had also come from that cabin.

It was only Friday's Capture the Flag that confirmed what cabins they would go to.

Michael was feeling nervous for it, being his first Capture game, he was a bit frightened of what the enemy would do to him. The enemy team consisted of Poseidon, Athena, Hephaestus and Ares cabin. He had seen Clarisse in action, and he did not want to be the kid she would give a wedgie to next.

The enemy team had been dominating the rest of the cabins for months now, and Will told Michael he would like to "beat the crap out of Percy". Michael thought that Will was just joking, but seeing the look in his eyes he could tell he really wanted to do it.

They got their armour and went into the woods, the two teams splitting up to opposite sides.

Will commanded the team, which had all the other cabins. Hermes, Apollo, even Hypnos cabin, where Clovis and the others just snored while Will gave the pre-match talk.

"Okay guys, tonight, I think we can win."

"You say that every week, Will!" Jerry shouted. The other campers moaned and talked about giving up.

"Give up? Are you insane? Unlike other nights, we have our two new campers, who are bloody astounding in the stuff they can do. Am I right?"

The others muttered in agreement. Michael was glad that it was dark, so nobody could see him blush. He looked at Joey, she looked happy too.

"Okay, so, same plan as last week. Joey, you rush into them and quickly capture the flag. We'll distract them."

"Where is the flag?" Joey asked.

"It's in their base, it'll be protected by the Athena cabin. Usually Hephaestus, Poseidon and Ares will rush forward. Take care, Annabeth can really pack a punch."

"I bet she'll be wanting to punch Joey after she'd beaten all her records!" A guy yelled from the crowd, and the others cheered.

"Michael, take defense. For the win!" he shouted and raised his sword in the air. Everyone else yelled happily and they rushed off to take their places.

Joey looked and Michael. "You up for this?" she asked.

"Defend against Percy and Clarisse? No kicks."

"That was epic!" Jerry shouted. He was barely sweating, and he had to shout over the other campers' cheering.

Will looked happy and annoyed at the same time. "I didn't get to own Percy, damn! Still, we won!"

Michael was grinning madly, looking at Joey. "Yeah, great job Joey!"

"Great? That wasn't great, it was excellent! A two minute Capture the Flag game?" Jerry shouted at Michael.

"Unheard of!" Simon from Apollo shouted back. The campers cheered again.

"That was some run, though," Michael said to Joey after the crowd had dispersed.

"I just ran there, and took the flag," Joey told Michael, smiling. "I don't think they saw me, only after I'd gotten the flag was when Annabeth came raging behind me. You also did great!"

Michael had shot an arrow at Percy right before he could grab hold of Joey. Without that shot Joey would have certainly went down and the flag would most likely return to the enemy's base. When the match started, Michael saw Joey become a blur and about two minutes later she was running back, holding a blue flag in her hand, flanked on all sides by their teammates. It was an immense pleasure to see Percy's face when Joey passed the team border.

They were walking back to the Armoury, and they were one of the last few stragglers of both teams. The other team looked extremely unhappy and Michael saw Percy returning to his cabin dejectedly. They walked down the hill toward the armoury, moonlight bathing them through small spaces between the clouds. He thought of the night's match and smiled again. He would never forget this experience.

"Yo, Joey, Michael, wait up!" Michael turned and saw Will hurrying toward them. "Great job you two! Never would I have thought we'd beat Annabeth and Percy that easily! They've been kicking our butts for weeks now."

"Yeah, neither would I," Joey said.

"Listen, Apollo cabin is having a small party later, why don't you –" he was cut off by a swooshing noise and his eyes turned to Michael.

"Well it's about time! I knew it!"

A flash of light, and Michael's light armour changed into some celestial bronze armour with silver plating, he had a quiver full of bronze arrows on his back and the short bow in his hands changed into a long bow with special carvings on it. One of them said "Apollo". His hands were now covered with leather gloves and he was also wearing a hood.

"Yep, that's Apollo's blessing. I'll explain to you later, right now look at Joey!"

Michael turned to Joey and saw her picking up something from the ground. She looked up at the sky and looked at the item in her hand, dumbfounded.

"It's an iPhone," she said. "It came from the sky."

"Go on then!" Michael exclaimed excitedly. "Unlock it!"

She unlocked the phone and a holographic image of Hermes came out. "Hello, Joey, you have a new message! From Hermes, god of thieves, blah blah blah."

The phone automatically read out the message, and it was as though Hermes was right beside them speaking.

"Hello, Joey. As you may already know, I am your father. No Star Wars pun included. Olympus is in a bit of a small predicament, and when I say that I mean it's a big problem. You'll understand soon."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Joey inquired.

"Don't worry about it now, Joey. Just stay safe. Gotta go, Zeus is coming," the phone automatically locked up.

Michael looked at the sleek iPhone. He looked at Will quizzically and asked, "Do all Hermes kids get claimed this way?"

"Nah, usually they get hit on the head with a box of flying shoes or something like that. I've never seen this before. Well, welcome to the cabin, Michael! Joey, it looks like you're staying in the same cabin."

"Awesome, now I don't need to move my stuff," Joey said. Will laughed and Michael continued to smile, even though his heart was not in the mood. He was moving away from Joey, and he was a little sad. Also, the leathery stuff he was wearing was not comfortable. He desperately needed a change of clothes, but it seemed impossible to take off.

Will explained to him that the enchantment would last a full day, and during that time if Michael was feeling the urge to fight a chicken he should do it.

"I'm just kidding about the chicken part, but not about the second one. During this time if you try to shoot any type of projectile, it's a ninety nine point nine percent chance that you'll score or be perfectly on target."

"Why so exact?"

"Oh, we tested on our last cabin entrée, Augustine. He got everything in but he accidentally missed one. Bounced off the hoop onto all the heads of the people in the area. Totally epic."

The party lasted all night, and by the time everyone had left Apollo cabin it was almost two in the morning. Chiron had to come in his nightwear to break them up because the satyrs were complaining about noise. The cabin had become unrecognisable, but it was still good enough to sleep in. Michael lay down on his bunk bed, and almost fell asleep instantly.

It felt like a second later when Will shook him up. His blurry face was not smiling; it looked weary and also worried. He was shouting urgently at Michael, but Michael was too dazed to react.

"Huh? What's going on?" Michael asked groggily.

"It's a big problem," Will started pacing. Michael saw other campers waking up.

"What's up Will?" Jerry asked tiredly from his bed.

"It's Percy," he said, too shocked to continue.

"Percy? What happened to him?" Michael asked, getting worried.

"Percy's gone missing," he announced to the silent cabin.


	5. Chapter 5: The Three Arrivals

Chapter 5: The Three Arrivals

The shock of Percy's disappearance finally went away after a few days. Now came a wave of worry, with most of the older campers dispatched to look for him. Joey and Michael had offered to help, but Annabeth turned their offer down.

"It's too dangerous; you've only arrived a week ago. You're not sufficiently prepared for what lays out there," she said with a defeated look on her face. She had been searching

"You mean what lays in New York? Believe me, I can defend myself from muggers trying to get my drachmas," Joey protested.

"Not only muggers. Monsters are everywhere; even your ordinary ice cream man could be one."

"Yeah, but who knows where Percy is? You'd need to search like, the whole United States."

"That's why you can't go. Even Chiron doesn't know what lies out there," she said. She looked out of the Big House's windows. The Big House had turned into their base of operations, where Iris messages were being sent in from all over the country. Will had called in from Florida with no sign of Percy. Annabeth was not pleased to see the Mickey Mouse hat on his head, and the castle of Cinderella in the background.

"But – " Michael started to protest again, but Annabeth waved him down. Now she said irritably, "I've told you guys no. Now just go back to your activities, you'll get an update during dinner tonight."

They walked out of the Big House unhappily, ranting on the way to the Archery area. The place was much more quiet than usual, and a slight drizzle fell from the dark clouds above. Joey complained to Michael about Annabeth's decision, and Michael completely agreed with her. They were capable of handling such a situation, yet she did not allow them to help. How unreasonable.

The shock of finding out the news in the morning had jolted Michael's memory; he had been with his mother when he saw a black haired boy fighting a giant monster at the top of the Gateway Arch. Everyone around him was screaming that a rabid poodle was at the top, but Michael thought they would have to be pretty blind to mistake that monster for a poodle. His mother pulled him away quickly, but he caught a glimpse of the boy falling from the top into the water above, and rising unscathed. His mother thought that Michael was dreaming, and he forgot about the situation completely.

Now it had all come back to him, and that was when the attacks started. He was about ten years old then.

It did not really matter now, with Percy missing and half the camp out to find him. Percy was the camp's leader, without him most of the camp was at a loss. The Archery Area was deserted when Joey and Michael arrived, and Michael started teaching Joey on Archery, but he did not have the mood.

Half of their day's activities had been cancelled due to lack of trainers, so they went back to their cabins where Joey said she was experimenting with a self-made phone, helped by the Stoll brothers. Michael had nothing else better to do, but to take a walk around the lake.

Months passed, and soon it was near the end of the school term. Michael and Joey had received their results, and Michael had failed History, due to them not completing their project at the start of the first term. Joey did surprisingly well, except in History. They joked as they walked down the hallway, avoiding the other students and heading toward their lockers.

"Will your mom be happy with your results?" Michael asked as they proceeded to empty their lockers into their backpacks.

"I think so, doesn't really matter, does it?" Joey responded as she stuffed books down her already filled to the brim bag.

"Ah whatever, we have to get back to camp to continue building the chariots," Michael said as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"I thought Will already had it done?" Joey asked quizzically.

"Nah, he has school too, and we still need to tighten a few bolts before the chariot race tomorrow."

They were leaving the school when Joey's self-made phone rang. She saw the name and muttered, "It's Connor, he keeps calling me, I don't know why…"

"Yeah?" she answered irritably.

"Joey, you and Michael gotta get back quick, Annabeth's orders. She just sent some kind of Iris message to me, hurry up!"

"Okay, okay, don't be so fussy," she hung up and Michael said, "We've gotta get to camp, and fast."

Michael and Joey had to rush back to Michael's apartment, dump all of their stuff there and after escaping Michael's mother's questioning, they finally got into a taxi as it started to rain. It was about a half hour after they got Connor's call that they finally arrived at camp.

They ran through the arch entrance of Camp Half Blood, and saw a crowd in the Big House. They ran quickly downhill toward it, but Will reached them first.

"Where have you guys been? Annabeth wanted to bring you two along but due to time constraints, she only went with Butch. I just got back too, just heard about the news," he said all of this very fast and was panting. It looked like he had run a long way just to get here.

"What news?" Joey asked.

"Connor said that she got a dream from Hera about a boy with one shoe, related somehow to Percy. He wasn't really clear with details, but she's heading toward the Grand Canyon as we speak. We haven't got any news, and Butch should have a direct line to us, being a son of Iris and all. Come on, let's get into the Big House."

They gathered into the overcrowded room, where everyone was staring at Travis and Connor expectantly, although they were just sitting there fine tuning equipment and operating laptops. The others helping out weren't exactly helping, they were sitting around the table playing games while drinking coke.

"Any news, Connor?" Will asked.

"No, stop asking me, that's like the forty-second time I've been asked that question," he responded irritably.

"They should be arriving at the Canyon in about two hours, they left fifteen minutes ago. Go back to whatever you've been doing before, we'll make an announcement over the system when there's news," Travis told everyone. Everyone groaned in response.

"We rushed here for nothing? Damn," Michael complained to Joey.

"Since we're here, let's go see how the pegasi are doing," Joey recommended. Michael thought it was a good idea and set off toward the stables, but Nyssa came and stopped them.

"Didn't you two hear? Annabeth and Butch took the pegasi. And Apollo cabin's chariot."

"WHAT?" Michael exclaimed loudly. "Oh my god, I hope they don't scratch it, I've been working on it for weeks now!"

"Calm down, it's probably going to come back shipshape," Joey consoled him.

"Yeah," Nyssa told Michael. "Even if it broke, it's going to be better than what Hephaestus can do right now, that stupid curse. Ever since Beckendorf…" she sighed and shook her head. Everybody at camp knew the superstitious curse of Cabin 9, but Michael did not really believe it, although Joey did. It was true, every single chariot Hephaestus cabin had tried to build had fallen apart, even though it was completely stable when they built it. Michael was starting to believe the curse was real.

The chariot came back worse than what Michael expected.

Joey and Michael were strolling past the lake, late in the evening, mocking Drew from Aphrodite cabin. They both hated her very badly, because she was a stuck-up snob who could charmspeak. By making her counselor of Aphrodite cabin, Michael thought that Mr. D had gone insane. Most people at camp thought so too. But then again, he was a god, so they could not argue due to their fear of becoming a badger or a mouse.

Will came bolting out of nowhere, directly toward them. He pointed at the at the sky, out of breath. Michael looked up and saw two pegasi, pulling a chariot filled with people. He saw the burn marks on the chariot and nearly cried. The pegasi's reins had broken loose and now the chariot was tumbling downward toward the lake. It landed with a giant splash, drenching almost all the campers.

The naiads pulled Annabeth, Butch and three other kids out of the water. The campers quickly came forward with towels, and one of the Apollo held a medic kit, ready to assist. Michael saw the broken chariot, his heart split into two immediately. All his hard work, destroyed by a lake.

Will was dumbfounded. "Annabeth! I said you could borrow it, not destroy it!"

"Will, I'm sorry, I'll get it fixed, I promise," she told him. She climbed out of the knee deep water as Will scowled at the wreckage.

"These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed yet?" he spared a glance for Michael and Joey before looking back at the three of them.

"Claimed?" the boy with the black, ruffled hair inquired.

Will ignored him and asked Annabeth, "Any sign of Percy?"

"No," Annabeth responded, looking crestfallen. The others started to mutter, and Michael had a chill run down his spine.

"Joey, I have a bad feeling about these three," he whispered to her.

"I think it's just getting started," she whispered back.

* * *

><p>Sorry about the late update, I was being lazy :P<br>Next week I probably won't be posting until Friday night (+8 GMT), because I'm heading overseas. Sorry about that!

Oh, and if you liked this chapter, or the whole story as a matter of fact, please review! It's really a morale booster! Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6: The Storm

I decided to post.

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: The Storm<p>

It was raining.

The sky shook with lightning and thunder as droplets of water came thrashing down on Camp Half Blood, as well as more than half of the United States. The weather had turned for the worse lately, causing multiple hurricanes to appear around the major cities of the United States. Jason had told me Gaia had no control of the sky, so it had to be Zeus. With Olympus closed down and Mr. D recalled back, there was no way to tell if Zeus was angry or whatever.

The gods had turned silent right before Jason, Leo and Piper arrived at camp. It was months after they had finished their quest, and the Camp had changed a lot.

The whole camp had started work on the Argo II, which Leo headed. It was coming along nicely, but the dangerous weather was delaying the building. Lightning had already struck the boat more than once, causing small fire outbreaks that were quickly extinguished by the pouring rain. People working on it got shocked, and many were in the infirmary getting ready.

Michael and Joey were sitting in the rec room of the Big House, since it was the nearest shelter when they were coming to get more tools for the ship. The entire camp was cast in darkness, and it was nearing the summer solstice. It was five o' clock in the afternoon, but it seemed like ten at night. Visibility was extremely low, causing Michael and Joey to stumble on muddy piles of water and fall. By the time Chiron had ushered them into the Big House, they were shivering and dirty from the mud.

They cleaned themselves off with towels, but stains still remained on their clothes. Michael groaned and said, "This was my best shirt."

Joey looked at him and tried to clean the stain off, but to no avail. Her hair was still wet, and she sat on the couch, gazing at the window. "Looks like another all-nighter," she said absently. Michael groaned again. It was about the sixth time the past two weeks. Michael turned on the TV they had installed in the rec room, after complaints of the room being too empty and having only a ping pong table, with a refrigerator containing snacks. Chiron had to give in to the campers' demands and got a TV and gaming consoles in there.

The room was empty except for Joey, Michael and Jason. Jason had gone on his quest earlier in the year, and had brought back the news that Percy was at the Roman camp that no camper knew anything about, not even Annabeth. His blue eyes were moving rapidly across a book about "How to confess your love". Everyone already knew that Jason liked Piper, and they liked each other but they did not want to confess or anything.

Michael sighed and grabbed the remote, turning on the television. Joey's gaze turned to the TV, which was reporting news.

"… now to John Wayne with the weather. John?" A woman in a suit told the camera. The screen switched quickly to a balding man in a suit too, and he had a stick in his hand to point to the different states.

"Thanks, Barbra. Weather experts say that Hurricane Jackson could continue in land, but not for long. It seems that is heading toward the Brooklyn area, so people there should get to shelter soon. Hurricane Iris is still not cooling down, and is on its way to Florida. We also recommend the people there to get into shelter, as in may make landfall within a few hours."

Michael lost his attention when the man on the TV continued to ramble on about flooding in Seattle and Los Angeles, because he was thinking about Brooklyn. It was not too far from here, and also his mother was there. He was afraid that his mother would not… he couldn't bear to say it.

He saw Joey with a frustrated expression on her face, and asked, "You worried about Brooklyn too?"

She nodded. The video showing on the TV wasn't good; the La Guardia airport had shut down due to freak weather conditions, and the rest had delayed flights. New York was about to get hit by their worst storm ever.

There was also the news that a large group of monsters were heading toward the Greek and Roman camps, which demoralised the campers even more. It meant less sleep and a lot more work. They heard this news only the day before, and with the danger of being struck by lightning every two steps you walked, it was almost impossible to build fortifications to meet the monsters that would arrive in a week.

Michael looked at the TV, where the newscaster continued to report about the fighting in the Arabic countries, but he didn't take in a word of it. The United States were experiencing freak weather, and Zeus was most likely the cause of it. Jason had tried contacting his father, but to no avail.

It was only until tomorrow did Michael know the direness of the situation.

The storm had finally cleared up long enough for Jason, Michael and Joey to get back to their cabins. The three of them were discussing about battle tactics. Michael knew Jason quite well, being his instructor for archery, which he completely sucked in. But he was a great melee fighter, and could easily take down anyone. He was Percy's match.

On the way back to Apollo cabin, he saw Hephaestus cabin having smoke come out of it, and there was a lot of yelling there.

"I think if we build around the perimeter…" Jason went on.

"Hey guys, what is that?" Michael asked the group. Joey was also looking at Hephaestus cabin, but Jason continued to ramble on.

"… should work. What is what?" He looked up.

"Hephaestus cabin. I think they're in trouble, come on!" Michael raced up the hill. Joey and Jason easily overtook him. Michael was never good at running, but he had improved significantly. He at least beat the wood nymphs at least once out of the four practice sessions a week. But that didn't matter now.

Someone had opened the door, and smoked billowed out of the area. Michael looked around as they continued running toward the cabin. Nobody else had realised it, probably because they weren't camping at the windows.

Michael reached the door and heard Leo say, "Uh, I can fix that."

Michael looked into the room and saw most of the campers covered in soot, and Leo's workbench had an explosion mark on it.

He saw us and a nervous smile broke out on his face. "You three saw that?"

"Yeah," they said in unison.

"Sorry, was just working on a small part of the ship," he waved at the destroyed table. The room used to be full of fantastic gizmos and constructions made by the campers, but now everything was covered in a fine greyish powder.

"That wasn't a small part, it was one of the cannons!" Nyssa exclaimed. She too was covered with soot.

"Whatever, it's easily fixed. Okay guys, get back to your work. Sorry about that you three."

"It's okay," Jason told him. "Just don't blow up the ship."

Leo grinned. "How did you know I was planning to do that?"

Nyssa gave him an evil look, but Leo continued to smile. "Oh come on, can't you take a joke?"

"Not really, because the last time you said you'd blow something up, it really did."

"I said 'This cannon is gonna blow loads of stuff up', not 'This cannon is gonna blow up'. Seriously Nyssa, are your ears that bad? I can fix 'em for you," he held up a wrench and made for Nyssa. She whacked it back and the force of the push caused Leo to tumble into a bucket of grease, to the laughter of his cabin mates and the three of them.

With his work clothes covered in grease, he cursed in ancient Greek. "Damn, this grease takes forever to clean up."

"Okay, have fun sliding around," Michael told him.

"Ah, shut up."

Michael said his goodbyes to the cabin, Joey and Jason, then left for his cabin, were most of his mates were playing cards or throwing darts with excellent accuracy. Michael had already beaten the record of the number of bullseyes in a row on the dart board, which was five hundred and four.

The others were upgrading their arrows, and he saw Jerry experimenting with dynamite at as the tip of his arrow.

The place was lit by a small fireplace, and beds were at the corner of the rooms. The middle was reserved for games and work, but mostly games. Couches surrounded the roaring fire, and it was toasty warm compared to the cold outdoors. The wooden floor was covered with wires of Michael's cabin mates charging their electronic devices. Austin was using a laptop computer and looked like he was playing a first person shooter.

He kept getting headshots, because the kids of Apollo had perfect accuracy, in anything. Michael went to his bed and picked up his phone. It said five thirty. It was about an hour half until dinner.

Electronic devices used to be banned in camp, but after a discovery by the Stoll brothers, they could be used if a thin plating of celestial bronze was used on them. Chiron then allowed everyone to get their own phones, and with the help of Hephaestus cabin, the Stoll brothers started a market of phones. Michael knew that they scammed people easily, and the whole camp was aware of it. Somebody bought a phone from them, but regretted it a second later after a boxing glove shot out of the phone and gave him a black eye.

The cabin was a peaceful place, only the sound of his fellow campers preparing first aid kits, playing, or modifying weapons, adding sonic enhancements or TNT to their arrows.

Just a normal day indoors.

When the conch horn rang for dinner, the Apollo cabin got up messily and walked to the dining pavilion. The area was completely dry, even though there was no roof. Michael threw a bunch of pork ribs into the fireplace and prayed to his dad.

"Dad, can you help us? We seriously don't know what the Hades is going on. Thanks."

Apollo had spoken to him once before, which ended with him saying a haiku that made Michael doubt if he was the god of poetry. That time, he had told him that it was just beginning. But before he could inquire further he woke up from somebody's snoring, also known as Will.

He had told Joey, and she said that Hermes had sent her a text saying something around there. Having the god of the messengers as your father was a great thing, because you could send texts to him and he would reply almost instantly. Joey had had long conversations with him before, but he had went silent when Olympus closed down. Her phone always returned the message "BAD PHONE NUMBER".

He finished dinner and announcements came. Chiron told the campers, to their dismay, that Capture the Flag and the chariot races would be postponed until further notice. They had to focus on building the ship, that was almost done except for its weapons and interior. That could be done easily within a week, but there was also the monster invasion to worry about.

Michael went to bed and fell asleep.

He had weird dreams before, but this was the weirdest.

He dreamt that he was sitting in a red Maserati, flying over Los Angeles. He looked over the car door, and saw loads of buildings below, and the Hollywood sign. In the driver's seat was a boy of about seventeen to eighteen, and had sandy hair. He wore a white Converse shirt and blue trousers. He turned around and smiled widely at me.

"Hey, Michael. Come up front," Apollo said. He gestured me to the passenger seat on his right.

Michael looked down toward the earth again. "Um, isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"Nah, if you fall you'll just experience death before waking up suddenly. Nothing to worry about."

Michael still wasn't convinced, but climbed gingerly and sat down next to him. Michael looked around the sky. It seemed that there was no sun, but he knew about his father. He was in the sun chariot.

"So… Dad, why so quiet?"

He sighed and leaned back. "Let me explain to you in a haiku."

Michael couldn't help but think, Oh dear gods.

Apollo thought for awhile and said, "Okay, I've got one.

'As hot as I am

Zeus' control weakens daily

It is just starting.' "

He looked at Michael and asked, "Did you like that?"

Michael stared back into his blue eyes, the same shade as his own and responded, "Well, it was a load better than the other one you gave me."

He continued to grin and looked ahead, his hands driving the sun chariot absently over Los Angeles. Michael could tell something was wrong, from the haiku.

"What do you mean by Zeus' control weakens daily?" he asked. Michael looked below. California was covered with a layer of clouds.

Apollo was thinking about it. "Do you know what is dementia?"

Michael remembered the time he had visited the hospital. His mother was a nurse and he sometime went there with her, because she didn't want to leave him at home. A doctor had explained to him, though he was irritated, that dementia was a disease where people had some kind of memory loss or their memory just became worse.

"Yeah, I do," Michael said. He was fearing the worst. He saw Apollo's face and knew that this was not good.

"There is a reason why storms have been breaking out over the U.S, you know that right?" Apollo asked him.

"Obviously, has Zeus been sick or something?" he asked jokingly.

But he hit the nail on the head.

"Yeah, he has. He's got dementia. And if it isn't cured soon, the States will probably be destroyed.

Michael looked at him.

"Not by me, of course." Apollo made a whine. "Just because I nearly melted Manhattan last week, doesn't mean I'm careless!" he defended. "It was just, there was this awesome donut stand and I saw it…"

"Whatever, but how are you going to fix this?" Michael asked impatiently, cutting across his father's explanation.

"You will fix this. If not, your ship, the Argo II, won't be able to sail."

"How? How can I fix this?"

Apollo passed over California. "You'll have to figure that out yourself, there's no time left. Here, you're going to be needing this." He passed Michael a quiver of arrows, with a sun on the side.

"Where are you going?" Michael asked him.

"I've gotta get back to Olympus, Zeus can't find out that I've been talking to you. He may have got dementia, but he may still remember."

"Remember what? What am I supposed to do?" Michael's voice echoed around the skies. Apollo started to fade as the moon rose slowly over the horizon.

"You'll find out how! See ya soon, son!" he shouted. He waved toward Michael and Michael tumbled toward the earth.

Michael woke up in cold sweat. The rain poured outside as he wondered about what he needed to do.

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><p>Tell me what you think by reviewing!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7: The Quest

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Well, chapter 7 is now out! I hope you enjoy! R&R!

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><p>Chapter 7: The Quest<p>

Michael did the natural thing to do.

He told the teacher.

Chiron's face grew darker with every sentence Michael said. It was early on Tuesday morning, and a fine mist covered the whole of the New York area. Michael fell a lot on the way to the Big House, but he knew this news was seriously urgent.

He had knocked on the Big House, only to be answered by a bleary eyed Chiron, his tail in rollers, or whatever those were called.

"My boy," he exclaimed. "Do you know how early it is?"

"Yeah, it's six thirty," Michael answered. "This is urgent, Chiron."

He raised his eyebrow, looked at Michael's face and sighed. "I hope this isn't about Ares cabin planting stink bombs under your cabin again."

Michael had a short flashback of the time Apollo cabin was uninhabitable for a week. They had to crash in the Hermes cabin, causing everyone to have barely enough space.

He came back to reality, and told Chiron the entire thing. Chiron seemed a little annoyed at first, but by the end of Michael's story he was alert and Michael knew that he was trying to make sense of the whole thing.

"Dementia? Are you sure?" he asked Michael.

"Yeah, my dad told me Zeus had it, and there was only one way to cure it."

Chiron looked at me with his sad eyes. "Indeed my boy. I think this calls for a quest."

Michael was stunned. "But sir, you know that the – "

"Yes, I do. But if you don't want the whole of North America to be turned into a wasteland, you must go," he said gravely.

"But the Camp needs all the help it can get!" he argued. "There's about a hundred campers and the enemy probably has thousands!"

"Just focus on saving North America first," Chiron said. "If there's no North America, then there will be no Camp Half Blood."

"Is it really true?" Joey ran up to Michael after breakfast and asked.

Michael nodded sadly. "Yeah, I guess it is. Apollo wouldn't lie to his kids, would he?"

He looked toward the lake. A storm brewed in the sky, but no rain fell on the camp. The sun had risen beautifully over the horizon, the sun chariot pulled by Apollo, but Michael felt no warmth.

He remembered the quiver of arrows, and smacked his head. "Oh gods, I forgot to tell Chiron, my dad gave me these arrows. I don't know what they do, though."

Joey was curious. "Where are they?"

Michael rolled his eyes. "In my cabin, obviously. I don't know what to do with them."

"You're gonna have to bring that along on the quest, most likely. Why else would he give them to you?"

"Maybe he wanted me to show it off, I don't know, you know how gods are," Michael said, frustrated. He looked at Joey seriously. "You're coming along, you know that right?"

"Of course, if not you'd probably destroy America before the storm does," she said.

Michael punched her in the shoulder. She retaliated by punching him back. "Race you to archery," she said, grinning. Michael sighed. There was no way he could beat Joey, she was the Camp's fastest runner. He looked up dejectedly at the overcast sky, and ran forward, chasing Joey.

Classes had been cut short to half a day to prepare for the fight. The rest of the day was devoted to building fortifications and upgrading weapons. Hephaestus cabin had exceeded expectations by making dozens of swords within a few hours, and had also prepared Greek fire bombs. Apollo had set traps around Half Blood Hill, and Athena cabin had erected a command tent near the woods. In all, it seemed like a good setup, but it wasn't good enough.

"Hey, Michael," Jerry ran up to Michael, his hands holding what looked like celestial bronze rocket launchers. "The others are busy, so Will asked me to ask you to help me to set this up around the camp."

"Wow, that was confusing."

"Nevermind that, can you help me? We need to place a few in the forests, and some around the cabin areas." He pulled out a map of Camp Half Blood and Michael saw that many roughly drawn crosses were placed at many locations.

"Annabeth drew these locations," Jerry explained. "Since Hephaestus cabin is busy, Apollo has to help out. We can't really do much with sonic arrows and Frisbees with C4 on them."

To Michael, it sounded like they were pretty good. Dynamite on Frisbees and arrows that could kill your ears? Yeah, totally useless.

"Okay, I'll come along," Michael told him. Jerry managed a smile and passed him half of the tower of celestial bronze launchers. He took out another map and told Michael to cover the eastern half of Camp, while he did the western part.

When he left, Joey took half of Michael's stack of rockets. Michael protested but she ran away with them, leaving him behind in the dust. He walked toward the cabin area, and planted the rockets right beside the Hypnos cabin. He didn't think Clovis or the others would care about loud rockets firing from beside their cabin. They slept all the time anyway, and even when dung bombs were thrown in their cabin, they didn't even flinch.

He planted them right beside the cabin, jamming it into the ground. It seemed easy enough, but he looked at the map again and groaned. The eastern part had dozens of crosses, while the western half had a few. He cursed silently in Ancient Greek. Jerry had tricked him.

Ah well, he thought. Jerry's going to have problem sleeping tonight.

He continued on to the other cabins, and the last two crosses were beside the arch, the entrance to Camp Half Blood. He hiked up the hill, and saw that two towers had been built by Hephaestus cabin, each flanking the entrance. They were made of steel, and reflected the overcast sky. In them held buckets of lava, automatic arrow dispensers and also mini guns loaded with celestial bronze bullets. Barb wire had been placed in front of the arch, and Michael could see the marks of dug up areas where bombs had been placed.

He walked up to the arch and jammed the rockets in their positions. Bobby from Hephaestus was still trying to get some armoured plating on the tower. His brown hair gleamed with sweat, and his greyish black eyes were focused on his hammer. His orange shirt was drenched with sweat, and he did _not_ smell good.

"Hey Bobby," Michael said. He glanced at Michael briefly before going back to his work.

"Can't talk now, Michael. Leo says I've gotta finish this by lunch or I'm dead."

"Just wondering, how are you guys gonna control those rockets?" Michael asked.

"They're all hooked up to a remote. We just aim it at what rocket we want to fire and where we want it to go," he said impatiently. "Not to be rude or anything," he said, but Michael thought he was being pretty rude. "But I've gotta get back to work, sorry." And with that he continued to hammer on the metal.

"Nice talking to you," Michael muttered. He spent the rest of the afternoon helping Leo and the others work on the Argo II. It was a majestic boat, with a dragon's head stuck to the front. It was made of bronze, and glowed in the dim sunlight.

Chiron came up to Michael as he was adding a dispenser to the bottom half of the boat.

"Michael, I require that you come with me to the Big House. It's time you met our Oracle."

"Sure thing, Chiron, let me just – OOW!"

Michael had accidentally crushed his finger against the wall of the dispenser. He pulled it out and saw that it was completely red, but not broken, thankfully. That finger was the one he used to shoot his arrows.

Chiron smiled mildly. "Ah, nothing that you can't heal. I expect you have gotten healing lessons from Will?"

Michael remembered the time when he'd been practising on Will, only to have him lose his thumb. That had been a scary experience.

"Yes, sir. Will already taught me," he said. It was a disaster, he wanted to say, but bit back his words.

"Come along, then." He trotted down the hill, toward the Big House. Michael had to jog to catch up with him.

"Sir, how do gods even get sicknesses or diseases in the first place?" Michael asked Chiron.

"Alas, I do not know. Sometimes these types of problems pop up and there is only one solution to them."

"Can't Apollo heal him or something? He _is_ the god of healing."

"Dementia cannot be healed, even by godly means," Chiron explained. "I will tell you more later."

The Big House loomed ahead, looking like a normal old farmhouse, but inside housed many weird things. Michael had found a plastic bag with a head in it, and had no appetite for dinner after that.

Michael had met the Oracle before, and you couldn't tell she was the Oracle. It was so weird, that a red haired, freckled girl about Annabeth's or Percy's age could be a speaker of mythical prophecies that determined a person's fate. When Michael first met Rachel, he thought that Percy was joking, but he was dead serious.

"Hey Michael!" Rachel grinned and said.

"Hi," Michael responded, feeling a bit nervous.

"Don't worry, it'll be all over in a second. Just ask me the question."

"Ummm…" he felt weird asking a sixteen year old about his future. "What is my destiny?" he finally managed to ask.

Suddenly, although it wasn't very cold, Mist surrounded her and Michael stepped back in shock. Through the thick mist he saw two glowing eyes at where Rachel's eyes' should have been. He saw her mouth open, but it wasn't her voice that came out. The Mist surrounded him too, and he heard Rachel's voice loud and clear, as if she was next to him.

"_Three__half__bloods__shall__go__southwest,_

_Leaving behind a complete mess._

_The hated dove shall free its reins,_

_And see the land covered in flames._

_One will – "_

Rachel stopped abruptly. The Mist shrank away speedily, and Rachel stood there, dazed. Chiron quickly trotted up to her and caught her before she hit the ground. She had fainted, and Michael was about to walk forward when suddenly, a force threw him back a dozen metres and he hit the ground with a hard thud. His vision started blurring, and he heard Joey shout his name before passing out on the moist ground.

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><p>Did you like the story so far? Hopefully, you did, or else I'll <em>probably<em> jump into Tartarus. Anyway, please review! Really helps me out! Thanks!

~ jumpcutfindo


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